It's usually a frikandel, a burger or a pancake covered in more sugar and sweets than I would eat in a year. What is that about?
Health consciousness plays no part in the assembling of children's menus here. Many places in the UK do at least make some kind of effort to produce something that is at least half way healthy for a child to eat, such as a plate of pasta and vegetables.
Why? Why is Dutch catering for children so unhealthy? Anybody? Is it a culture thing? A lack of imagination? Is there an exception to this somewhere? Has somebody found a kid's meal worthy of their kid's stomach?
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I was mulling this over the other day myself, after reading an article on Expatica about how the Dutch stay slim. Surely there's a paradox there, as the majority of their snack foods are deep-fried, often involving unidentifiable processed meat-related products, covered in lashings of full-fat mayo?
Perhaps it comes down to the fact that the Dutch don't usually eat out or buy takeaways that frequently, and so it's seen as a special treat. Hence the occasional omission of the token lettuce leaf (which the kids probably refuse to eat anyway, if mine are anything to go by) isn't such a problem.
Add to that the fact that ready-made, pre-packaged meals are a rarity in the supermarket, and this is no nutritional disaster. Having left the UK 25 years ago, I am mesmerised whenever I visit the huge supermarkets there and see just what you can now buy ready-made. Things my mother used to make herself like beefburgers, fishcakes, rice pudding, custard, apple crumble, shepherd's pie; all are now available off-the-shelf. Some of those things are available here too, and it's a sector which seems to be growing, but on the whole, Dutch families eat a freshly cooked meal from basic ingredients every day, albeit with the addition of one of those handy packets of spices by Honig, or Knorr or Conimex.
What does annoy me about eating out with children here is the lack of a children's menu in cafés. Very often all you can order are upmarket foodie offerings involving complicated flavour combinations and bread containing a multitude of seeds and "bits" which no self-respecting child would deign to eat. This is where a simple cheese sandwich or ham roll would make life so much easier.
I think a lot of it comes down to the fact that the Dutch are so active (think cycling for example) because of our local takeaway venues are anything to go by they are certainly well used at weekends. However, the rest of the time I think healthy meals are cooked and indeed the absence of ready made, processed meals in supermarkets have a lot of positives. When I am in the English supermarkets I am astounded by the range of ready made food that you pop in the oven or microwave.
I agree about cafes and the like - children's menus are lacking and either overcomplicated.... or fried foods only...
This is something I have never quite fathomed about NL. How children s menus are all the same wherever you go and how in fact Dutch parents and people in general think its the norm. Quite often if we go out with Dutchies family theyll say are you just gonna get little one frikandel and chips, well no actually I had thought of something more healthy?!
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